DIY co2 mix up

[OzShrimp]

So I am thinking that a proper set up/purchased system would be the wise choice

investment will avoid any longer term and short term problems :)

[Jay95]

Just bought a second hand system that has a full bottle of CO2 just need to get a decent diffuser (looking at the sera 500), can anyone tell me how many bubbles per sec I should run keeping in mind that the tank houses shrimp and l270 catfish.

Thanks

[blindfisherman]

Just bought a second hand system that has a full bottle of CO2 just need to get a decent diffuser (looking at the sera 500)' date=' can anyone tell me how many bubbles per sec I should run keeping in mind that the tank houses shrimp and l270 catfish.

Thanks[/quote']

there will be a range of factors influencing the co2 uptake. such as tank size, plant stocking density, fert regime, lights etc.

i found keeping mine at 20-25ppm which has provided a huge boost for my plants and dropped the algae off to minimal ammounts.

tanks are stocked with shrimp, cories, guppies, bristlenose and some killifish and none seem to be affected and all species breeding happily.

[jrc693]

ive got that at the moment, its pretty good, only issue is the bubble regulator on mine doesnt work well. if there was a better regulator it would be perfect. it always stops producing bubbles after a few hours and then you have to loosen it and put it to the desired bubble level again.

im thinking about just cutting the hose inside the bottle and doing yeast again.

[jrc693]

oh yeah its a pretty cool/smart design, it automatically syphons one liquid into the other bottle when the pressure runs low. just needs a better bubble regulator

[kaltses]

So anyways I brought this and the instructions come in Chinese and be buggered if I can read Chinese lol anyone know what I need to mix in the 2 bottles to make it a DIY co2 cheers in advance :)

Just refilled mine last night' date= took 10 minutes and if everything's done right, will last nearly a month. I have the the "Pro" version of this, a slightly refined version but works the same.

This is from when I first set it up

So I have 2 x 1.5L bottles. Use soft drink bottles because they are made to withstand a lot of pressure.

Bottle A on the right (with the pressure gauge) has 200g of Citric Acid, which is just under 3 of these, which cost $2+ each from the supermarket:

Mix in 600ml of water and shake it up to dissolve the powder. It should end up a clear liquid.

Bottle B on the left (with the needle valve) has 200g of plain old Bicarb Soda mixed with 200ml of water. The powder does not dissolve completely but it doesn't matter.

Connect the bottles up as above but don't attach them to the tubing in the tank yet. Close the needle valve completely.

Squeeze Bottle A (citric acid) until some of the liquid goes into Bottle B and reacts with the Bicarb.

Every 5 seconds, open the needle valve to release some co2 and have some of the liquid automatically go from A to B to react again. As it reacts, close the valve and shake Bottle B to increase the pressure.

Repeat this until the pressure increases to at or just under half way in the green section. This should be a good level of pressure to sustain the production of co2 gas.

Finally, connect it up to the tubing in your tank. I use a simple check valve, glass bubble counter and glass nano diffuser.

Also if you're wondering, I use an inline solenoid on a timer to control the co2 window of operation.

[jrc693]

is there somewhere where you can just buy the regulator?

[OzShrimp]

i read with the DIY tho that u cant really control when the Co2 is dispensing and when you try the pressure just continues to build up until catastrophe occurs ?

[Squiggle]

Yep, covered the lounge room with sugar/yeast mix when one exploded a few years back, bought a AquaMedic kit the very next day :encouragement:

[kaltses]

i read with the DIY tho that u cant really control when the Co2 is dispensing and when you try the pressure just continues to build up until catastrophe occurs ?

With this setup the chemical reaction creating the CO2 is more precise and refined (and independent of ambient temperature) and can be controlled very easily using the needle valve on Bottle B. The pressure will only ramp up significantly if someone shakes Bottle B which contains the citric acid and bicarb mix.